Wednesday, December 29, 2010

I know, I know, it isn't Friday yet, but the challenge theme was posted early so I took a try at it. New Year's is a strange time of the year, so many different feelings--doors closing, doors opening--endings and new beginnings...thoughts of mortality and the urge to boldly go...

Anyway, I found this lovely quote from TS Eliot, and it brought music to my mind--because it's a universal language and speaks with many voices. And then to children , the new generation, making their own language, and seeing the world with their own eyes as they grow.

The musician image came from Magic Moonlight studios, the bird I found on Google, the clock face is from Dover. The several images that helped make the background are free to use from Brusheezy's collection, as are many of the photoshop brushes I used.

Monday, December 27, 2010

What proud mother does not dream that her child will be a musical prodigy. Alas, we are not all so blessed.

Image from Land of Nod, background bits by mbgrigby & frannie60 at T4L, and Dover and some other bits that I don't remember where I found them. Photoshop brushes, filters and layer styles were applied as well.

Sunday, December 26, 2010

Just a pretty little thing for this week's challenge. Papers from Cottage Arts and Graphics Fairy and a gradient for the background; the Beauty overlay is from the Port Au Prince collection from Songbird Arts and the image is from Dover.

Christmas is over! The annual orgy of family, food, presents and overindulgence is done! Don't get me wrong, it was a wonderful, happy Christmas, and I enjoyed it thoroughly. And there's more to come as Emily & Tim (dtr & s-in-l) will be here next weekend to complete our celebration. E & T are candy-makers and it's always a real treat to see what they come up with. They make MARSHMALLOWS! Vanilla, peppermint, eggnog, and this year--cranberry! Crunchy nut brittle and caramel sauce! It will be fun to think of things to dip into warm caramel.

Now that Christmas is behind me and I am looking forward to the New Year and what it might bring, I am feeling the urge once again (Thank You, God)to return to the digital drawing board and do some art.

4x4's challenge this week (I only saw it this morning) is "Calm and Bright" Calm always signifies the ocean to me, so I took my cue from a photo I took of a sunrise at the beach last summer, and it all flowed from there. Thanks to the folks at Textures for Layers who so generously share their creations with us, and to Shadowhouse creations who creates more gorgeous bits for us to use. Lots of filters and layer styles, opacity changes and brushes were applied to set the mood.

Monday, December 13, 2010

I've been hoping to find a use for this wonderful old photo of children gatheres for their Christmas photo. The annual Christmas photo is a childhood experience that I'm sure most of us remember--fancy clothes, bright lights, Mom fussing with hair and collars...This photo is actually a stereopticon slide. I can remember looking at such slides at my grandmother's house at Christmas during my own childhood.

For those who don't know, a stereopticon is a viewer that takes two copies of the same slide and shows a 3-D image to the viewer--an early incarnation of the old Viewmaster, that I'm sure you all remember.

I found this slide at Wikimedia Commons, in their Christmas collection. I added a couple of gradients, a background texture by UR_2, some sheet music from the Graphics Fairy and some photoshop brushes.